Shadyside wins opener, 9-7; JM rebounds, gets 8-1 victory

March 31, 2013

Shadyside might have been playing its first game of the season Saturday against John Marshall, but the Tigers looked to be in midseason form in the opening game of a doubleheader, winning 9-7.

The Monarchs rebounded and won the second game, 8-1.

Article Photos

Shadyside shortstop Luke Nardo forces out John Marshall’s Shane Wellman during the fifth inning of their game Saturday at John Marshall High School.

Photo by Jim Elliott

''The pitching was exactly where I thought it would be,'' Shadyside coach Mike Meintel said after the opener, ''but the hitting really surprised me.''

It started in the first inning, where Austin Dorris and Colton Campbell delivered RBI singles in front of an run-producing sacrifice fly by Jarod Brooks.

And it continued into the third, when the Tigers batted around and scored five runs, keyed by a two-run single off the bat of Luke Nardo and RBI base hits by Brooks and No. 9 hitter Zach Frizzi.

''We kept pounding all offseason to be aggressive at the plate and those kids responded,'' Meintel said.

That inning gave Shadyside an 8-1 lead and Dorris, the team's starting pitcher, was cruising into the fifth before he found trouble.

The Monarchs got back in it with five runs of their own, highlighted by an RBI single by Ryan Davis, an RBI fielder's choice by Daniel Barker, and a two-run single by pinch-hitter Tanner Filben as they cut the deficit to 9-7.

It stayed that way into the sixth when Brooks, the ace of the staff, was summoned from left field with two outs, the tying run on second base, and a 2-0 count on Davis. He induced a grounder to third that ended the threat, then got the final three outs in the seventh.

''There were different plays in the game. We could have won the game if you break down the scorebook,'' JM coach Bob Montgomery said. ''We're looking for who our team is. We're just mixing and matching. We don't know anything right now about our team.''

Meintel couldn't have known a bunch about his, either, but he found out a little as his OVAC Class 2A club went across the river to face 5A John Marshall for the first time in years.

''We put the hits together when we needed them,'' Meintel said. ''Kids were aggressive on the base paths. We manufactured a few runs there a couple innings with two outs.''

Kinemond was a tough out all day for the Tigers. He was 4-for-4 (all singles) and was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to drive in a run during the five-run third. He added two more hits in the nightcap.

Schyler Callihan made his first varsity start for the Monarchs and struck out three in 2 2/3 innings.

''We've got to play a little bit and try to get something by May,'' Montgomery said.

John Marshall 8

Shadyside 1

John Marshall (3-3) received a complete-game effort from Mitch Whorton in the second game as it salvaged a split.

Whorton struck out six and scattered six hits.

Whorton, Chris Minder, Shane Winland, Jeremiah Fromhart and Davis all had multi-hit games for the Monarchs - part of a 12-hit attack. Shane Wellman and Fromhart each drove in two runs.